Ilkay Gundogan: The missing piece in Arsenal's jigsaw

It is being reported that İlkay Gündoğan is being chased by several big clubs around Europe, including Real Madrid, Premier League leaders Arsenal and defending Premier League champions Manchester United.

Gündoğan, 22, who currently plays for Borussia Dortmund is thought to be available for a fee in the region of £25m, which in today's transfer market of inflated prices would be a bargain. Also there are still talks ongoing regarding his future at Dortmund as his contract runs out in 2015.

There has also been a strange story regarding Gündoğan's injury; he has been out of action for Dortmund for a few weeks because of a lower back injury. The player said he would only be out for a fortnight, then his comeback was delayed again until the end of September. Gündoğan still has not made his comeback.

Dortmund Sporting Director Michael Zorc seems uncertain of the current situation with Gündoğan.

“He isn’t making significant progress,” Zorc told Bild. “We don’t know when he’ll be able to play again.”

Gündoğan was part of the impressive Dortmund side that won the league and cup double in Germany in the 2011/12 campaign and has impressed, especially in the Champions League last season which saw them reach the final, only to be bettered by an unstoppable Bayern Munich. He has also won eight caps for Germany, scoring two goals in the process.

So what would Gündoğan bring to the table? He is a box-to-box midfielder and is like Manchester City's Yaya Toure in many respects; he can operate just in front of the back four but is also creative when it comes to being in the final third.

Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp has generally used Gündoğan as a holding midfield player which is an area Arsenal need to strengthen.

Arsenal have been operating with two holding midfielders at the hub of what resembles an arrow at times, this allows Mesut Özil to go and do what he does best and create chances in the final third.

Arsenal only have Matthieu Flamini as a recognisable defensive midfielder. Mikel Arteta has been playing there for about three seasons now; he has been doing "a job" for Arsenal but not much else. It has been made clear this is one of the areas that Arsenal need to be looking at as a priority in the January transfer window if they are looking to stay in the race for the Premier League title.

One snag on this deal would be Gündoğan's lack of availability in the Champions league this season; that being said Wenger is a long-term admirer of the player and I would fully expect some movement for Gündoğan in January.

DISCLAIMER: This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article. GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

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DISCLAIMER

This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of
GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article.
GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

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